Last of the Chosen (Spirit of Empire, Book One)

by Lawrence P White

“They trouble me as well. The arrival of these two may be fortuitous. I feel the Empire calling to them. We both have work to do, but we’re going to make time for them as well.”

  Chapter Forty-six: We Are All Tools

  Val and Krys returned to his room without speaking. He felt uneasy, even frightened of her a little, and he didn’t know what to say. She sensed his uneasiness and pulled him down to sit beside her on the bed.

  “I’ve never talked about it to anyone else,” she said. Then a smile lit her face. “I’ve never had anyone I could talk to about it. What a wonderful sense of freedom I get from sitting beside you.”

  “Do you see the future?” he asked worriedly.

  “Not in detail, and not very often,” she said with a troubled look. “For Daughter’s sake, I wish I saw more. I like her. I wish I could be more helpful.”

  “Can you look at me and see my future?”

  “Do you want me to?”

  That caught him by surprise. With just a little thought, he said, “No!”

  “Nor do I want to know our futures,” she said softly. “They will be what they will be.”

  “They’ll be what we make them,” Val corrected her.

  * * * * *

  Otis found them later that day. “Val, Captain Jzazbe will see you now. Are you ready?”

  He gulped. “Yes, sir.”

  “Do you know the way?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  He turned to Krys. “Daughter awaits you. Will you attend her?”

  “At once, sir.”

  He turned to Val. “You’re still here?”

  Val took off like a shot. Krys, too, stood up, though a little more slowly. She was frightened again, and Otis did nothing to relieve her of that fright. He led her through confusing corridors and down the ‘central shaft’ through which they floated down two levels. She entered Daughter’s domain with trepidation.

  Daughter greeted her warmly and led her to a stateroom just down the corridor from her own. There, she introduced Krys to her new quarters: a small sitting room, a room with two beds, and a small, private bathroom. “These are your new quarters,” she said.

  “Oh, My Lady, it’s too much.”

  “It’s not too much for Val’s sister, and remember, I’ve Tested you. I understand your discomfort with sleeping alone. You and Val can share the room. You’ll find clothes in the closet. Will you join me for dinner later?”

  “My Lady?”

  Daughter looked at Krys from head to toe. “You’re not a spacer, and the uniform is out of place on you. Have you ever worn fine clothes?”

  “No, My Lady.”

  “May I help?”

  “Oh, My Lady! You embarrass me.”

  “Would you rather I sent someone else?”

  “Yes, My Lady.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t. Here,” she said, walking over to the closet where several dresses hung. She selected one and held it up against Krys. “Yes, this will do. It’s not formal, but this is not a formal dinner.” Krys stood frozen in place, speechless. Daughter put a hand out to caress her cheek. “I know this is not easy for you, child.”

  “Daughter cannot attend an orphan, My Lady,” Krys said softly.

  “I’m sorry our system has put you in this position, Krys, and I would like to remedy that. Will you guide me?”

  “My Lady?”

  “Will you guide me, help me change things? Creating change within my Empire is not a simple thing, but I would like to try. I cannot do it on my own.”

  Krys looked at her through sad eyes. “I’m just an orphan, My Lady.”

  Daughter gave her a piercing stare. “You’re just an orphan if that’s what you choose to be. Is that what you want?”

  “No, My Lady.”

  “What do you want?”

  “I don’t know,” she said softly.

  Daughter considered her words. “Fairly spoken, Krys. How, indeed, could you possibly know what you want? In my position as Daughter, there are many things I can do, but I cannot, and I will not, coerce you into doing that which is not natural. What I can do is give you aspirations. Will you let me at least open some doors for you?”

  “What doors would those be, My Lady?”

  “That remains to be seen. There’s no hurry. Let’s see what develops. In the meantime, dinner is in four hours. Val will join us. And tomorrow we’ll have Doctor Storvo examine you. Remove this spacer’s outfit, and I’ll show you how the dress goes on.”

  * * * * *

  Val headed to the bridge with great anticipation. This was his big chance. He crutched into the central shaft and stepped out at bridge level. The bridge was quiet, surprisingly quiet. A few crewmembers sprawled at their stations, each wearing a shiny black helmet, seemingly idle.

  He studied the bridge. Immediately before him, a human who he assumed was the captain sat semi-sprawled in a seat at the rear of the bridge. Before him stood a row of twelve work stations arranged in a semi-circular pattern at which sat two crewmembers, both also seeming to lounge. In front of those consoles, an array of screens covered the walls, surrounding the bridge. When he looked up, there were screens above and behind him as well. Val only saw empty space on most of the screens, though on closer inspection he found symbols that probably represented the other ships of the squadron escorting Daughter. The center screen displayed a long red line that seemed to stretch into infinity. Was it their course, he wondered?

  Captain Jzazbe sat up and removed his helmet. He turned to Val with a piercing stare. After a time, Val realized what was expected of him. “Reporting as ordered, sir,” he said, standing tall.

  Jzazbe stood up and walked around his seat to stare at Val. “So you want to be a starship pilot, eh?” he asked.

  Val gulped. “I do, sir.”

  Jzazbe continued to stare at him. “I’m Captain Jzazbe,” he said finally. “On the bridge you will be addressed as Mister Val, understood?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Very well. What knowledge do you have of what we do here?”

  “None, sir. I’ve studied the mathematics and science behind what you do, though I have a long way to go there. I understand the principles of your drive system. I wish I could say I knew more, sir, but I don’t.”

  “Hmm. Actually, that’s more than I expected. What are your plans, Mister?”

  “I’m studying for the entrance exam to Fleet Academy, sir.”

  “Most don’t make it, you know.”

  “Yes, sir. I know.”

  “Even when they do, few have what it takes to conn one of these ships.”

  “I understand, sir.”

  “We won’t make you a starship pilot here, Mister, but we can see if you’re made of the right stuff. In the process, we may be able to give you a head start on some of the lessons you’ll get at the Academy. We’ll begin with an introduction to the net. Do you know what that means?”

  “No, sir.”

  “The net is the ship, Mister. We connect to it through an AI, an Artificial Intelligence. Our crewmembers rarely fly the ship, and never without an AI. Instead, they command the AI. The guns are an exception.”

  “Why not the guns, sir?”

  “The AI is specifically prohibited from firing the guns, Mister Val. It can provide targeting data, but it cannot pull the trigger. I think you can understand why.”

  Val thought for a moment, then nodded his head. “Only a live person can take the life of another,” he stated.

  “Precisely,” Captain Jzazbe replied. “We cannot have computers killing people. They might kill the wrong ones,” he added with a rueful grimace. “I’m prepared to introduce you to our AI. Are you interested?”

  “I am, sir,” Val gulped.

  “Then we’ll not delay.” Jzazbe led him to a vacant workstation on the left end of the row of workstations and handed him a helmet. “Know this, Mister Val: this AI is as advanced as the Empire can make it. It is capable of teaching you, and it is capable of simulating any activity it
so desires. I have instructed it to train you, but not to let you control the ship. Nothing you do within the net will affect our voyage, so do not hesitate to learn all that you can. You will not have another opportunity like this until you are in advanced training at the academy, so make the most of it while you’re here. Understood?”

  Val, cringing inside, nodded his head. “I will, sir, and thank you.”

  “You might not be thanking me in a while. Go to it, Mister.”

  Val sat down at the appointed station, the control panel before him meaningless. He stared at the shiny black helmet Captain Jzazbe had given him, then tentatively raised it to his head. Jzazbe nodded, and he put it on. Jzazbe stepped over to him and pulled the faceplate down. “Use of the faceplate is not required, but it’s helpful at the beginning. The AI will run an evaluation routine, so don’t get too anxious.”

  Val stared out at blackness. All sound and vision was muted with the helmet on and the visor pulled down. Several long minutes went by, and he was beginning to worry when he heard a chime. Then he sensed the skin of the ship. It was cold, but he didn’t feel cold. He just knew the skin temperature of the ship was very low. Atmosphere pressed against his skin from one side, and vacuum pulled from the other. Another chime sounded and he sensed structure beneath the skin of the ship. One small joint was before him, and without knowing how he knew, he knew the joint was molded together at sub-atomic levels to merge with other parts of the structure. Then he sensed himself backing away to a larger perspective. Soon, a series of elegant trusses and beams and girders of immensely strong material wove together to form a larger piece of structure. He didn’t just see the structure, he felt the structure, and it felt right.

  He pulled back again and kept pulling back until the full exterior structure of the ship was before him. He thought ‘ramp,’ and he zoomed in on the ramp structure, sensing how all the various parts came together. Soon, motors and wires and a variety of materials stood out for inspection. He saw it, and he understood it, but he felt it as well, and it felt right. He thought ‘weapons,’ and he felt himself flowing along fiber optic lines, turning where necessary without having to decide which turns to make until he was in the bottom turret. There was never a question as to which line to follow, he just went. There was the laser-disintegrator, there was the manual aiming system that he knew was used only in an emergency, and there were the motors and controls to make the gun function. Heavy power cables led from the turret to Engineering, and with just a thought he followed them all the way to the ‘bottle,’ the power source for the ship.

  He understood that the weapons drew their power directly from the bottle. So, too, did both drive systems, one for intersystem travel, and the other for making jumps through hyperspace. All other systems drew their power from shared, massive shunts connected to the bottle. He studied these, and their purposes were felt and understood. He felt the power within the cables and smaller wires, and they felt right.

  Smaller control circuits led to computers, many computers. Some were simple logic circuits. Others consisted of crystals of various sizes within which myriads of twinkling lights winked faster than the mind could follow. But follow them he did, and they felt right.

  He didn’t know where to go from there, but he didn’t need to know. The AI guided him through plumbing and air conditioning and recycling systems, then raced with him through many compartments within the ship. Val opened and closed doors, turned lights on and off, changed temperature settings, checked the cargo spaces, and even studied the multitude of menus produced by the auto-chef. He even sensed the smells of the food, though flavors were dull. That was okay. He knew without even thinking about it that the AI could not produce a sense that it did not have.

  Then he sensed the AI itself. He did not sense a human body. Its body was the whole ship, but he did sense awareness of self.

  “Hello,” he said.

  “Hello, Val. Welcome to my home.”

  “I sense that I am welcome here. Thank you.”

  “The pleasure is mine. You’re the youngest human to join me here, though there have been younger ones of other races. It’s time for you to meet Artmis.”

  “Oh! I’d forgotten!”

  “He hasn’t. We’ve been having a nice chat. Are you ready?”

  “I am.” Val expected to see an amorphous blob of protoplasm, but that just wasn’t in the cards. Artmis materialized before him as a red-headed, freckle-faced boy a few years younger than himself dressed in a plain spacer’s uniform. Looking down, he discovered his own body dressed the same way. “You’re younger than I expected,” he said to Artmis.

  “No, I’m not. You may not know it, but this is how you think of me, and I like it.”

  “But you’re so much older than me. I mean your father was . . .”

  “I’m not him anymore, Val. I’m him, and I’m you. And don’t forget, I’m just a baby. I’m going to be learning right along with you.”

  “But you’re so much smarter than me.”

  “Not true. I may have more knowledge of certain things, but you have life experiences that are completely new to me as well. Besides, knowledge is only a small piece of being smart. Lots of beings are smarter than both of us, and some are quite primitive in comparison to you and I, though smarter in ways that count to themselves.”

  Val mentally gulped. “Do you know how to fly the ship?”

  “I can get by, but it’s not my strong point. My father had little interest in ships. That was Sir Jarl’s job. My father loved court intrigues, however.”

  “Well, what’s next?”

  “You’re about done for the day, Val,” the AI said.

  “But I haven’t even seen Outside. How am I going to know if I can be a star pilot?”

  “You’ll see Outside tomorrow. You’ve had enough for one day.”

  Val felt himself pushed gently out of the net. He removed the helmet to stare about himself in confusion. >Wow,< he thought to Artmis. >That was fun!<

  >Glad you liked it. Sorry, but to me ships are just a means to go places. I don’t think I’m going to be a lot of help to you at the Academy.<

  >I want you there, Artmis, but I don’t want your help. I want to know this stuff.<

  >Works for me. Works very well.<

  Captain Jzazbe interrupted his thoughts. “Daughter is holding dinner for you, Mister. It’s not wise to keep her waiting.”

  “How long was I in there, sir?”

  “Four hours. That’s the standard limit for beginners.”

  “Can I come back tomorrow?”

  “Daughter comes first, and you need to spend time with your sister. Those are your first priorities. Understood?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Very well. Plan on one four hour shift per day here on the bridge. We’ll extend it if you find you’re up to it. For Daughter’s purposes, the middle of the day works best. Be back here at 0900 hours. We’ll make that your regular report time. Understood?”

  “Yes, sir!” Val said with a grin. “Uh, permission to leave the bridge, sir?”

  “Permission granted. Get out of here, Mister,” he said with a wave of his hand. But a grin found its way to his face as soon as Val’s head disappeared down the central shaft. The other two crewmembers on the bridge were grinning as well.

  * * * * *

  Val crutched his way quickly to Daughter’s quarters. Krys welcomed him with a curtsy, clearly pleased with her appearance in the dress provided by Daughter. Val bowed solemnly and took her hand, leading her to the table.

  “No spacer’s uniform?” he inquired.

  “This is much better,” she said grinning.

  Daughter was already seated, so Val didn’t kneel before her. She indicated his place, across the table from her and beside Krys, and he sat.

  Daughter cleared her throat, and he looked up at her in surprise. So, too, did Krys who was pulling her own chair out from beneath the table.

  “A gentleman assists the lady,” Daughter ad
vised.

  Val’s face fell. Mentally, he was still back on the bridge, deep within the guts of the ship with the AI and Artmis. Reality came crashing down around his ears.

  The expression on his face brought a chuckle from Daughter. “Must I demonstrate?” she asked.

  “No, My Lady.” He stood and pulled back a chair for Krys. She had a tragic look on her face as she sat.

  “This will only be painful for a few days,” Daughter advised both of them. “It’s not that hard, and I know you’re both up to it.” She started with the soup, and Val just about gave up right there. She wouldn’t even let him lift the bowl to his lips. Krys, with her devotion to stories about princesses and knights, had an easier time of it, though she, too, struggled a little. Daughter was relentless, insisting that both learn a behavior new to them.

  “How was your time with Captain Jzazbe?” she asked.

  “Oh, My Lady,” he said between slurps from his spoon, “It’s wonderful. I know so much more about the ship already. Did you know that the craftsmen who built Resolve joined all the major structures together at the atomic level? There are no bolts or welds in the primary structure.”

  “It is appropriate to set your spoon down on the plate before answering, Val. And remember, no talking with food in your mouth. No, I did not know that. You find it interesting?”

  Val set his spoon down. “I do, My Lady. That, and lots more. I would very much like to visit a shipyard someday.”

  “Perhaps you will. You can pick your spoon up now.” She gave him a few moments, then asked, “Did you pass?”

  He set his spoon down and swallowed. “I haven’t been Outside yet. I think that comes tomorrow. Captain Jzazbe assigned me a nine o’clock report time. Does that work for you, My Lady?”

  She smiled. “It does. He and I have already discussed it.”

  “Oh,” he said in a small voice.

  “Val, I’m not spying on you. Please don’t get that impression. We’re just trying to make this work for you.”

  “Yes, My Lady.”

  “I was thinking that you might like to tour the cruiser before we jump.”